Girl, Missing
by ashlovesCM
Summary: Charlotte Moor disappeared from her home in Lincoln, Illinois in the middle of the night. Is she just a runaway like the police think or the third victim of an UnSub targeting vulnerable teenagers?
1. a case is a case

"Hey, JJ" Emily greeted as the blonde glided from Hotch's office to the bullpen. "What's the rush?"

"We've got a case, Hotch wants us on the jet in thirty" JJ sighed. "A girl's gone missing in Illinois. It's the third abduction in six weeks, local police haven't got any new leads and they're thinking this one is just a runaway"

"We're going to _rule out_ a victim?" Morgan asked and raised an eyebrow.

"It's happened before" Emily offered as the group stood and walked toward the elevator.

"Yeah but how many times have their only been three victims to start with?" Morgan added.

"A case is a case, I guess. What the guy is doing isn't all too pleasant either" JJ said. They'll probably ask us to consult if another girl goes missing anyway. If this one isn't his third victim, it won't be long till we have one"

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"This is Charlotte Moore" JJ explained while passing round the case files. "She disappeared from her home in Lincoln, Illinois late last night. There've been two other cases like it in the last six weeks. Emma Jones and Sarah Wright were taken from their homes two weeks apart. Emma was found in a ditch partly covered by tarp. Sarah was found in a similar way a few miles down the road, also covered with tarp"

"Have they got the PD checking the road the other two were found yet?" Morgan asked while flipping through the file.

"They did an initial sweep which came back clean but, according to their report, they didn't believe they'd find anything anyway" JJ answered.

"Why?" Emily questioned without looking up.

"_Partly_ because the other two victims weren't killed until the fifth day after their abduction" JJ began before Garcia finished her answer.

"And partly because they put Charlotte down as a bad kid and a runaway" Garcia added in an angry tone.

"Has Charlotte run away before?" Hotch asked.

"Nope. She's being seen by a psychologist so I guess the cops thought they could put it to her mental health and sweep it under the carpet" Garcia answered through gritted teeth.

Hotch paused for a moment then cleared his throat and closed the case file. "We'll be arriving in 10. Reid, JJ: I want you to go to the family home. If this girl is as socially introverted as the file shows, the mom might be our only lead. Morgan and Prentiss: have a look round the neighbourhood; see if anyone heard anything unusual last night. Rossi and I will talk to the psychologist. If this is a simple runaway it needs to be eliminated to keep the focus on the UnSubs victims"

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"There doesn't seem to be any clothes missing from the closet" JJ stated while flicking through the clothes then shutting the door.

"What does that mean?" Rachel, Charlotte's mom, spoke up with a worried look.

"We're just making observations at the moment" JJ comforted and smiled softly. "Did Charlotte ever talk about wanting space?" She asked after a small pause.

"No" Rachel answered in a tired voice.

"Did she mention a safe place she might have gone to calm down?" Reid asked while moving objects on Charlotte's desk.

"No. She used breathing and relaxation stuff her psychologist taught her to calm down" The woman explained then adjusted a candle Reid had moved. "I'm sorry about the mess, I was told not to clean up until you guys got here" She added, looking round the room with embarrassment in her eyes.

"You did the right thing. This can tell us a lot about Charlotte" JJ said warmly. "Has she been spending more or less time than usual with you or her siblings?"

"No, she's been fine up till now… Sammy, her brother, was arguing with her a couple days ago but it was petty stuff"

"Where's Sammy now?" Reid asked, noting what Rachel had done but choosing not to mention it.

"He's in his room playing… Sammy and Hannah have autism. Hannah's isn't so bad but Sammy's can be difficult to handle. He doesn't know Charlotte's missing, it would only stress him out"

"Do you have any suspicions that Charlotte might have run away?" JJ asked.

"What? No! I told those cops Charlotte wouldn't ever run away! Sammy and Hannah hate change. She would never just up and leave in the middle of the night without an explanation to them" Rachel explained, her anger simmering down as she talked.

"You've been really helpful" JJ said then paused. "Would it be possible for me and my colleague to have a look round here alone? It would help us build the profile with an open mind"

"Yeah, no problem" The woman mumbled then turned and left.

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"Excuse me, sir? Do you recognize this girl?" Morgan asked while holding out a photo of Charlotte to a passing man.

The man paused, took the photo and shielded his eyes from the sun while he looked at it. "Oh, sure. That's Harley" He stated then handed back the picture, Emily flicking her eyes to Morgan when she heard Charlotte's new name. "She in some sorta trouble?" He asked in a thick Texan accent.

"We don't think so but it would be a lot of help if you could tell us where you know Harley from" Morgan explained.

"I do the nightshifts at a gas station a couple o' blocks from here. Harley comes in every night… Well, she did. Last night she never turned up, first time I ain't seen her for months. You get creeps walkin' round these parts at night. I just clocked off so I thought I'd take a walk down here, see if she was ok"

"Did Harley tell you where she lived?" Emily asked while looking round the street.

"Nah, she was a smart girl. She weren't the type to tell people where she was livin' even if she knew 'em for a long time"

"So how did you know she lived round here?" Morgan questioned and raised an eyebrow.

"I saw her walkin' this direction every time she left the gas station. I guessed she lived round these parts. Not many young girls walk too far from home when it's dark"

"You've been a lot of help Mr…?" Emily asked.

"Charles. Bobby Charles… Tell Harley I said hi when you find her" He added with a grin before beginning a slow walk away from the agents in the direction he had just come.

"Well, that was interesting" Morgan murmured while walking toward the victim's house. "I've never heard of Harley as a nickname for Charlotte"

"Maybe she was making another identity for herself? Harley is a lot more masculine than Charlotte" Emily stated.

"Either way, Hotch is gonna wanna know about this. If she _was_ going to see Bobby at the gas station last night, she might not have been in her home when she was abducted"

**This is an idea I've been wanting to do for a while now and finally had time to get round to it. I've been trying to decide between this and two other stories I've written on which one to post but instead of picking one I choose to post all and whichever get's the most positive feedback will be the one that I'll update the fastest. Depending on if this is the most popular of the three stories; the next chapter could be up within the next week. Please review if you've got time!**


	2. the kid's a runaway

"This place doesn't exactly scream teenager's bedroom" JJ said while wandering round the room, being careful not to step on the boxes and clothes lying scattered on the floor.

"It's like she couldn't decide how she wanted it" Reid mused. "Her desk is clean and tidy, everything is in its place but by the bed there's a glass with orange juice in that's been there for a few days" He added with disdain as he placed the glass back where it was.

"She's got a lot of books here" JJ murmured as she flicked through the collection lined up on the desk. "She's got all the Harry Potter's and the spines are cracked but none seem to have been read recently" She added while rubbing the dust off her finger. "There's some here about murders but they all look fiction"

"She liked the idea of travelling. There's a world map opposite her bed and a globe by her desk" Reid pointed out. "She's highlighted places in here" He added while holding up a book of world maps.

"Spence, There's a book on self harm recovery here. If she was seeing a psychologist this might have been one of the reasons why"

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"Did you find out anything useful from the mom?" Hotch asked as the team settled down in chairs to go over what they'd learned.

"She doesn't think Charlotte ran away. Her brother and sister have autism so it looks like she had a lot of responsibility for a teenager. Both siblings become distressed with change, so it's unlikely she would have planned something like this and not have told them" JJ explained.

"What about the neighbours? Did anyone hear anything last night?" Rossi questioned after taking a sip of coffee.

"No one heard anything but from what we were told it sounds like Charlotte had another life" Morgan stated.

"We met a guy, Bobby Charles; he told us that Charlotte has been going to the gas station a couple of blocks from her house every night for a few months" Emily added.

"He also told us that Charlotte's name was Harley"

"Well, that's an unusual nickname… Could she be transgender?" Rossi asked.

"Or she just wanted a different nickname. Do you know how many Charlottes and Charlies there are in Illinois?" Garcia said with a snap in her voice through the phone line. The team exchanged looks before Hotch cleared his throat.

"Did you find anything on Charlotte's social networking sites, Garcia?" Hotch asked.

"I couldn't find _anything_ on her. No Facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest… This girl was a ghost. I figured she must be talking to someone so I checked her laptop and computer for accounts registered under a different name and this is where it gets interesting. The computer has absolutely zilch personal stuff on it. The only things I could find were what looked like essays and school projects. So, I called the school"

"Garcia, you know you aren't meant to have direct contact with the public. We don't even know if we have a case yet" Hotch said sternly.

"I know, I know. But you guys were busy and I didn't tell them why we were asking so I thought it would be fine" Garcia explained in a rush of words. She waited a few moments then continued after Hotch said nothing. "She's been doing all her school work at home for the last four and a half months. She'd been having huge panic attacks practically every time she went to school so they put her into a homeschooling type program. She does the work at home, gets all her qualifications without having to worry about the social side of school, that type of thing. She went to a special school every Friday for people with school attendance problems but she was still pretty isolated there"

"What about her laptop?" Morgan asked.

"Well, that told an entirely different story. Our friend Charlotte _did_ have a social networking account. I didn't find it the first time because it wasn't a site that needed you to give your full name and she used an empty email address but she definitely had an account. From the looks of it, she never logged out. She was posting from the moment she woke up to the moment she fell asleep, which was very late by the way. She was known as Harley on it and had quite the following. I checked for any trolls or hate mail but her message box is completely clear. In fact, she's had three messages asking where she is already today"

"Did she ever mention running away or needing space in any of her posts?" Emily questioned.

"Nope. I checked the last two months of posts and she didn't use any buzz words for runaways. She did, however, talk about her family a lot. She said she didn't fit in with them and was always put last. Apparently her mom was always too busy with her brother and sister to care about her. Some of it sounds like typical teenager-y stuff but some of it…" Garcia paused then cleared her throat and began rapidly typing. "I've sent the entries that talk more about it for you to read. She also did a _lot_ of writing stories so I've sent a couple of copies of that over to you. Call me if you need anything" She piped down the line before it went dead.

The fax machine a few feet away jumped to life and starting pumping out sheets of paper with printed information so Reid stood and brought them over. Emily and Morgan exchanged a glance while Reid pushed copies of the post to the rest of the team.

"There's a lot of stuff here guys" Morgan said as he dropped his head onto his hand and flicked through the pages.

"Looks like we've got more trouble coming" Emily murmured as the heavy set police chief waddled toward the doors closely behind JJ.

"I'm detective Harris. Nice to finally meet you all" The police chief huffed in a rough voice.

"We thought it would be most affective to profile the latest victim before we met back here" Hotch explained.

"Yeah, well, I hate to waste your time but I don't think there is a victim" He said then sat down in one of the chairs. "The mom's a neurotic and the kid's a runaway, we get them all the time"

"With all respect, I don't think this is a simple runaway case" Hotch said.

"You think this girl is so special? She never went to school and had no friends round here. I bet you anything she's taken off to live some exciting life in Chicago. She'll turn up in a couple days" The detective brushed off.

"And when she does turn up it'll be in a body bag. Is that what you want?" Morgan asked with anger touching his tone.

"Look, I saw the kid's room. It's covered with maps! She's taken off to see some new places, that's all"

"She highlighted places miles away. The nearest one was New York, not Chicago. A train ticket to New York would cost at least 115 dollars. The money in her bank hasn't been taken out and Charlotte didn't have any sort of personal income to pay for the train ticket" Reid stated.

"So she's bunking trains, big deal! I don't want you wasting your time on this girl when we have to other bodies!"

"When was the first victim reported missing?" Hotch asked calmly.

"Excuse me?" Harris said in a defensive tone. After a few moments of no one talking he rolled his eyes and sat forward in his chair. "Thursday morning, March 5th" He huffed.

"And the second?" Hotch said in a neutral tone.

"Thursday morning, March 19th" Harris replied, his mind already skipping to what Hotch was going to say.

"When was Charlotte reported missing?"

"Thursday morning, April 2nd" The detective sighed.

"All exactly two weeks apart. Now, are you really willing to risk the life of a fifteen year old girl over this or can my team and I get on with our jobs?"

**I decided I'd make another chapter for all three stories to help everyone make their decisions. Just encase anyone was wondering, the character Charlotte is completely my own. I had a couple of friends proof read it and they all thought I had 'borrowed' someone's personality to make the character but she's made completely from my own imagination. Please review and I hope you liked this chapter!**


	3. the conference

Hotch's eyes glanced over the team assembled in front of him around the large table. In the far corners of the room were two police officers that detective Harris assured him could help on the manpower side of things.

At the back of the table Morgan, Rossi and Emily were staring straight ahead and awaiting instructions. Reid was on the left side of the desk with a map sat in front of him as he ran calculations in his head. In the middle of the table was Morgan's cell phone with Garcia on the other line and on the table's right side sat JJ.

Once he had thought through his instructions Hotch cleared his throat which earned him everyone's full attention. "Our primary objective is to find Charlotte and the UnSub before any harm can come to her" He stated then paused to let the statement sink in to the officers at the back of the room.

"To do this we need to work every angle we can which means we need all of your expertise" Hotch continued, his eyes moving from each person in the room then back to the table. "Reid: I want you to work on the geographical profile of the UnSub. Morgan and Prentiss: take an officer each and comb through the neighbourhood. Rossi: talk to the coroner of the two previous victims and see if they have anything linking them pre or post mortem. JJ: talk to the latest victim's mom and see if she's ready to do a press conference or a return appeal. Garcia: look through the last two victims social networking sites to see if the UnSub learnt about his victims through that"

"I'll hit you back once I've had a gander!" Garcia called through the phone before hanging up.

"Harris and I are going to talk to the first victim's family. Call this office if there's any development and we can all be patched in" Hotch added before walking toward the office door with Harris close behind.

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Rossi glanced over the dead, grey body of Sarah Wright. A thin, white sheet covered her body so that only above her shoulders and below her ankles was exposed. "Did you find anything unusual about the victims?" He asked while moving his eyes from the dead girl to the middle aged woman with a clipboard in her hands.

"They both had been hit on the back of the head but it had time to heal, about a week I'd say. The first girl had defensive wounds on her arms which happened around the time of the head injury so I guess he struggled with her before bashing her on the head" The woman explained while reading through her notes.

"Do you know what was used to hit them?" Rossi questioned.

"The first had traces of soil and rock stuck in the wound so it was most likely a stone he found on the ground for her. He probably used a stone for this one too except it looks like he brushed the dirt off before he attacked there was only micro particles left in the wound as well as skin flakes stuck to the rock pieces. It only provided a partial DNA profile but it might help limit who you're looking for"

"I'll get them sent over to our tech at Quantico; she'll be able to make more sense of it than any of us" Rossi stated then glanced back down at the body. "Was she drugged with anything?"

"There were a few low doses of rohypnol in her blood stream"

"Roofies" Rossi mumbled to himself.

"But only about half of what's usually used in date rape circumstances… I will tell you one thing, Agent Rossi. Both girls went through a lot before they died. Multiple stab wounds, burns, bruises _and_ broken bones. With what this guy did before he killed them it's more than surprising he didn't cook up something a little more imaginative, and painful, than a knife through the heart to kill them"

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Emily sat down on one of the neighbours' sofas with a thin, white officer that had introduced himself as Browny next to her. A stout woman sat down heavily on the sofa opposite with her young blonde daughter, no older than fourteen, next to her. "Did you notice anything unusual about last night?"

"Well, nothing was that strange… Next door is a pretty erratic place so sounds at night weren't too odd" The woman explained.

"What types of noises were normal for them?" Browny asked with increased interest.

"All kinds… They weren't very loud but it's quiet round here at night, you don't need to make much noise to be heard… It usually sounded like doors being opened and closed. Oh, and squeaky floorboards, like someone was pacing around up there" She said while motioning her head toward one of the bedrooms.

"What about you? Did you hear anything?" Emily asked while smiling softly at the girl when she sensed the blonde was holding back.

"I heard the same as my mom…" The girl mumbled while leaning backward slightly. "But I used to see her out on the roof. At the back of their house there's a roof that only goes up one story… I used to see her on it late at night. I think her window was above it or something"

"How did you know it was her?" Browny questioned.

"She…" The girl paused for a moment to glance up at her mom who gave her an encouraging look so she continued. "She would light matches and that's when I could see her face"

Browny and Emily exchanged looks then turned back to the other two people who were in the room and politely smiled. "You've been a lot of help" Emily complimented as they made their way to the door. "If you remember anything please don't hesitate to call us" She added while handing a business card to the mother, smiling again at the daughter then following Browny out of the house.

"I thought kids grew out of playing with matches before they turn into tween" Browny joked as they strolled down the front yard.

"Yeah, well it isn't always that easy…" Emily mumbled and turned toward the path to the next house. "Why do they call you Browny, anyway?" She asked, unable to hide her interest anymore.

"Well…" The man paused and grinned widely which increased Emily's interest even more. "In sophomore year I got my hands on some magic brownies and brought them into school. Somehow a teacher accidently ate one and was stoned out of his _mind_" Browny explained with a laugh slipping through his voice.

"So you drugged your teacher and still made it on the force?" Emily said and raised an eyebrow. "You must be one hell of a cop"

"They could never prove the brownies were mine so my record stayed squeaky clean" Browny said proudly. "But I was pretty famous round the school after that. It's a shame they never asked my brother, he was always the one with the stuff" Browny added before the conversation ended as they walked the path to the next house.

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Rachel Moore slowly walked to the press conference desk and sat down in between JJ and her friend who gripper her hand tightly. JJ gave her an encouraging look then flicked her eyes to the paper, which contained the guidelines of the appeal that had been prepared, placed in front of Rachel. The woman wiped a stray tear from her cheek then cleared her throat and glanced up at the swarm of cameras.

"My daughter Charlotte is fifteen years old and last night she went missing" Rachel began in a shaky voice. From her first word the cameras began to snap and voice recorders were pointed in her direction. "Charlotte has a brother and a sister who she cares a lot about. She tucks her little brother into bed every night" She added, her voice breaking and a sob slipping out, the media edging forward when she started to cry. "For the first night in eight years, she's not going to be there to tuck him in…" She choked out before taking a few deep breaths. "Charlotte has had a lot of problems but… but she's a good girl… and I need her to come home"


	4. go find our girl

Moonlight streamed through a small window in a dark room, a cool breeze rolling in through the opening. A few yards away a muscular man was staring absentminded at a TV. A young blonde woman was answering questions as a middle aged woman was being escorted away from the cameras.

"Charlotte has been missing for eighteen hours now, correct?" A man's voice questioned.

"She was last seen eighteen hours ago but she may have been abducted later than that. That's why we're appealing to anyone who heard or saw anything out of the ordinary last night" The woman answered coolly.

"Is this abduction connected to the murders of Emma Jones and Sarah Wright?" A woman called.

"We are looking into a connection but none have been yet"

"These abductions have been going on for six weeks now… Why is it the FBI have only just become involved?" Another woman asked followed by a few mumbles of agreement.

"As I said before, Emma Jones' and Sarah Wright's murders have not yet been connected to Charlotte Moore's abduction. We have simply been called in to help the local police department and bring peace to as many of the families involved as we can" The blonde paused to let the information sink in before leaning back. "That will be all for today. If anyone has information that could help our investigation we encourage them to call our hotline on-" The woman's voice left the room and the TV screen went blank.

The man heaved his body up, traipsed down a hallway and slowly opened a door. He peered inside and saw the girl was lying quite still on the bed. Her breathing was deep and slow, like she was sleeping. He moved closer to her, his finger running over the chain on one of her ankles. He brushed a few strands of hair out of her face and she stirred in her sleep.

"It's a shame I can't keep you for as long as the others, Charlotte" The man spoke softly as he ran a hand along the cuts and burns on her stomach. "If you'd tried a little harder it might have been worth the risk…" He trailed of slightly when her eyes fluttered open. "Be a good girl, now" He instructed as he reached for her throat, her eyes widening in fear.

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Emily's eyes glided through the text, her lips bitterly twisting into a smile. This girl might have had trouble at school but if she had been given a chance they would have realised she had a lot of potential. Reid glanced up from his paperwork and smiled weakly at Emily. "I can finish your paperwork if you want to do something else" He offered.

Emily shook her head and sighed. "It's just this girl… I know I shouldn't make things personal but it's hard not to" She explained with a hopeless look. "I mean, it's easy to see where the teachers went wrong. In the creative writing class she flourished but as soon as she was assigned something her confidence and talent collapsed" She added while holding up pieces of paper as evidence. "She never spoke up in class but clearly knew the answers in her written work. And, to top everything off, she never turned up to classes that was taught by a dominant personality"

"Fear of authority probably linked to deep seated insecurity and low self esteem" Reid said in a matter of fact way. "It's nothing we haven't seen before, Em" He added in a friendlier tone.

"I know…" The woman sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I can't explain it, it's just…" She let out a breath and shook the thoughts out of her head. "Never mind, I'm gonna get some coffee. Do you want any?"

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"This guy is like the creep of the century Jayj" Garcia commented as she typed more information into the computer. "I know that some guys like to kill people who are sad because they think they're helping but this guy doesn't even do that!"

"I know Garcia, that's why we need to catch him and the only way to do that is if you use your magic tech powers and find him for us" JJ said softly down the phone, the detective that was waiting impatiently a few feet away was setting her on edge.

Garcia paused; thought for a moment then nodded to herself and continued typing. "Alright, I went and looked into Emma and Sarah's social networking sights and it was super different compared to Harley's" She said, calling Charlotte by her preferred nickname. "Emma had the usual stuff a teenager has; pinterest, facebook, twitter, etc. She updated them quite a lot, from what I can tell"

"What about Sarah?" The blonde questioned.

"She had a facebook but she wasn't really on it that much…" Garcia explained while resuming her typing. "She would occasionally log on to talk to a couple people but that's about it"

"Alright, thanks Pen"

"It's nothing, just go find our girl" Garcia called, voicing everyone's feelings toward Harley, before hanging up the phone.

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Hotch placed one of the files that had been sent over of prospective UnSubs on a pile of others he'd read through and picked up another. Across the room Rossi had a file in his lap and was taking a sip of coffee. "I don't trust Harris" Hotch confessed, his eyes not leaving the page.

Rossi put his plastic coffee cup down and turned the page of the file. "Me neither. Something seems off with the whole station. I know some of them have reasons to not want the FBI here but you'd think the lead detective would be happy for the extra help"

Hotch thought for a moment then glanced up from his file. "Do you think one of them might have something to do with this case?"

"Almost all of them fit a general profile. A man of high power, physically fit with a grudge against the public. If anything, being a cop would just be what the guy needed to reel in the victims" Rossi explained thoughtfully.

"I'll get Garcia to have a look into some of the cops. Get the team into a private room as discreetly as you can, we'll need to be alone to do this"

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JJ brushed off another officer's request for a talk before slipping into a private room, casting a backward glance to make sure no one was too suspicious. The blinds were drawn and the team were gathered around a small table with Garcia on speaker phone.

"I've got six guys who fit the profile" Garcia stated in a low voice.

"Send the names and as much information you can find on them over to us" Hotch instructed before the phone call ended.

"No prizes for guessing one of the six will be Harris" Morgan said, his body language showing he was obviously aggravated.

"If the UnSub is a cop, how are we going to find out who it is? I've been hounded by almost every officer in the department today… I'm surprised we've all been left alone this long" JJ added with a disheartened look as she took a seat between Reid and Morgan.

"If Harris is on the list we'll have to investigate him first. If he's cleared from our checks then its one less thing to worry about" Hotch explained. "In the mean time we should get to work on the names" He added as a piece of paper churned out of the fax machine by the table. "Morgan and JJ- work on Officer Sinclair and Officer Smithson. Reid, Prentiss, Rossi and I will look into Harris. I know this is a tough case for you all but we need to be as impartial as we can… Let's get to work"

**So, the nets might be tightening around the UnSub but he could be getting rid of Harley… Sounds like a lot of drama, huh? Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter and please review if you've got time!**


	5. a body on the edge of town

Hotch sped through the empty road leading out of the built up area and toward fields of nothing. Next to him sat Reid, fiddling with something in his hands as they approached their destination. When the familiar dull colours of state troopers came into sight Emily adjusted herself in the backseat with an anxious look.

As soon as the engine was cut all three agents dived out of the car and rushed to the gathering police presence. "Let them through" Harris instructed in a rough voice.

The crowd split in two and the trio made a fast walk to where a girl's body lay. Hotch bent down and held Harley's missing photo close to the girl's face. He stared at her for a few moments then stood. "It's her" He stated as he turned to face crowd. Reid scuffed his shoe against the ground then started to follow Hotch back to the car but Emily hung back.

"You did this" The female profiler growled at Harris.

"I'm sorry" Harris said in a quieter voice. "I really did think she'd run away"

"You couldn't have cared less if she'd run away or not!" Emily snapped, drawing the attention of the state troopers. "You just saw a girl who'd had a rough start and decided not to care!"

"Prentiss" Hotch called, his stern gaze locked on her.

"But Hotch-"

"We need to get back to the police department to work on our profile" The team leader reminded her.

Emily flicked her eyes at Harris then stalked off toward the car, jumped into the backseat and slammed the door.

Once they'd been driving for a few minutes Hotch looked back at the woman through his rear view mirror. "I understand you're both upset with Harley's death" He began, his eyes now stuck on the road.

"That bastard killed her" Emily spat from her seat, she wouldn't admit it but she'd seen a part of herself in Harley and it made her feel even more vulnerable seeing her dead.

"We don't know that yet" Hotch said. "Now, we're going back to the police department and we'll rule Harris in or out. I want all your attention on this case; the UnSub is ten days ahead of schedule, it won't be long till he takes another girl"

The drive back to the police department was as quiet as the drive to the dumpsite, although this time the nervous tension was replaced by anger. Twenty minutes later the team were back in their small conference room. Garcia had been told a few minutes before that Harley had been murdered and she hadn't said anything since.

"Charlotte was there no more than two hours but had died roughly thirty hours before that" Hotch stated. "Are there any officers on our list that weren't working at that those times?"

"Four were off at her time of death, three of them had the chance to dump the body" Garcia said in a soft voice.

"Which men?" Morgan questioned.

"Detective Harris, Officer Holden Porter and Officer Kyle Berry" Garcia said while Hotch crossed off the names that weren't possible anymore.

"He's still on the list, Hotch" Emily stated sourly. "Can't we bring him in and ask a few questions?"

"There's still two other names on the list. If we try to arrest the lead on this case we'll have the whole department working against us" Rossi reminded them.

"Do any of them have ties to the victims?" Morgan questioned.

"Nope, the closest I can get to a link is them patrolling in that area" Garcia answered.

"So we've got no links and nothing that ties them to this investigation other than them being off duty when the kidnappings, murders and dumpings took place" JJ stated after peaking out the blind to make sure no one was looking for the team. "Are we sure this is one of the cops doing this?"

"The motive fits perfectly for a cop" Emily stated.

"And it's unlikely the UnSub would leave such a large gap between killing and dumping the girls unless he didn't have a choice" Reid added before a long silence.

"Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way" Rossi suggested. "The coroner said he used a rock for the blitz attack which means he hadn't planned it. If he wasn't planning it then his stressor would be recent, right?"

Garcia's typing filled the room and everyone waited silently for the result. "We've got two hits. Harris was divorced six months ago and… wow, Porter's fifteen year old daughter died after being in a three year coma"

The team stood and began readying themselves. "What did she die of?" Emily questioned.

Garcia brought up the police and medical report as fast as she could. "She was caught in a mugging, sustained a head injury and stayed comatosed. She contracted an aggressive form of pneumonia two months ago and died six days later" She read from the report.

"Is Porter working now?" Hotch asked, his hand resting on the door handle.

"No, but his next shift starts in… twelve minutes" Garcia answered grimly.

Hotch thanked Garcia then lead the team into the police department's bullpen. He quickly gained Harris' attention and called him over. "What's happening?" He asked in a hushed voice.

"Holden Porter is our UnSub and he's going to be arriving for his next shift in a few minutes" Hotch informed the man who looked stunned.

"Holden? Are you sure?"

"He fits the profile" Hotch stated while glancing round the bullpen. "I need you to call him and get him as far away from the public as you can"

Harris nodded diligently and strode off with a phone pressed to his ear. A few moments later Morgan was handing out their bulletproof vests.

"Yeah, Johnny's just puked in the trashcan" Harris said as he walked closer to the group. "He looks like a right mess, I told him to clean himself up in the bathroom then head home" He added as casually as he could. "Can you come in now? Those FBI boys are being a right pain in the ass; I could really do with your help" Harris nodded a few times then said goodbye and hung up. "He's parking outside, he'll be here in a few minutes"

The bullpen quickly cleared out and a tense silence fell over the group. After three minutes Hotch glanced round with a serious look edged with anxiety. "Something's wrong"


End file.
